Summary

The novel is narrated in the first-person present by the main character, Deka, beginning on the morning of the Ritual of Purity in which Elder Durkas will test Deka and all the other 16-year-old girls. Once they are proven, they will officially belong to the village and be considered women eligible to marry and start families of their own, plus they will be expected to wear masks when in public. Deka is anxious that she might not pass the test and be found impure. It is a rare occurrence, but she cannot help but worry. Her father met her mother while he was stationed in the South in the army. He returned to Irfut with his dark new wife and was disowned by his family since she was a woman of unknown purity. Deka is dark-skinned like her mother, and this makes her...